The One Who Babysits
by OctoberSkies
Summary: A few years after graduation, Hermione Granger bumps into a certain blond in Diagon Alley. What happens when she finds out he has a little boy and he asks her to babysit for him? A bit OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Harry Potter.

**A/N:** Hola chicos. This is Kathy here. I should be doing my homework right now, but this story just kinda popped in my head. I was at first deciding to make it a oneshot, but it's actually longer than I expected. So I guess it'll just be a pretty short story. And on with the show…

**The One Who Baby-sits**

**Chapter 1**

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Twenty-five year old Hermione Granger hit the snooze button on her alarm clock.

_'Urgh! Why am I so tired today? Probably because I ate so much last night at Ginny's birthday dinner. Why do I always stuff myself so much when I know…… … zzzzzz'_

"Beep! Beep! Beep! _Beep! Beep! BEEP!_"

"I'm up! I'm up!" She said to no one in particular as she turned off her alarm.

_'It's already 9 o'clock, Hermione. Get your butt up and into the shower.'_

After using all her will power not to stay in bed any longer, Hermione finally got up to get ready for the day, but decided to take a jog first to freshen her mind up.

OOOOOO

After running for about 30 minutes, Hermione decided to visit her 4-year-old niece, Emma, at her day care center since she hasn't seen her for a while. She apparated into the alley next to Mrs. Bommer's Day Care Center, but when she popped in, someone who apparently seemed to be in a rush, turned the corner and knocked the wind out of her. Before she reached the ground, she was held up by a strong male figure. She looked to see who he was, but only saw the blur of him since she was still a bit winded.

"So terribly sorr – Granger?" The unknown man said. His voice sounded awfully familiar, but she couldn't place it on anyone.

Hermione blinked a few times before she was able to see him clearly. She saw his white blond hair and pointed nose and recognized him immediately.

"Malfoy?" She was surprised to see him as well and then remembered that he nearly made her fall. "Don't you look ever when you run? You could run into some poor person and knock them over! Look what happened to me!" She lectured him.

"Hey, I caught you didn't I?" He said with a smirk. "Of course, if I knew it was you, I probably wouldn't have."

Hermione, not in the mood for a argument, said, "You're so despicable, Malfoy. What are you doing here anyway? It's muggle London."

Draco put a hand above his heart and replied, "Granger, I'm insulted. Just because I'm so above muggles you think that I would never set foot in a place where is it contaminated with them?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but Draco continued. "I'm here to pick up my son from his day care center. His babysitter had to quit on me during the busiest time of the year for my business. I had no choice, but to bring him to this mugglefest." He said with distaste in his voice.

"You have a son? Who's the lucky mom?" She said sarcastically.

"Yes, in fact, I do have a son. He turned five last month," Draco explained, as it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, I'm late picking him up."

He turned the other way and left, but shortly came back and sighed before asking, "I can't believe I'm so desperate as to ask you this favor, but do you think you could baby-sit Damian tomorrow? Damian is my son's name, if you haven't already realized that. I desperately need someone to watch him while I go to work and a _muggleborn_ is better than a bunch of muggles corrupting his brain."

"Is that your way of asking someone for a favor, Malfoy?"

"I'll pay you 100 pounds an hour."

"100? Are you nuts?" She asked incredulously

"No, actually, I rather don't like to be called a peanut. Take it or leave it."

"Fine, I'll do it. What tim – "

"Come by my manor tomorrow morning at nine." And with that, he left, leaving Hermione standing there, shocked by his bluntness.

She huffed as she turned around to leave, forgetting about her niece that she was going to visit.

"What a bloody wanker! What gives him the right to boss me around like that anyway. I should not even show up tomorrow just to show him that he can't boss Hermione Jane Granger around. But then again, I could use some easy money. His son can't be that bad, right? Ugh! That Draco Malfoy irks me to no end!" She mumbled to herself.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," drawled an indifferent voice from behind her.

Hermione whipped around to see Harry leaning on the wall, amused. "I am not insane!"

"Denial is the second," Harry replied with a smile. When he only got a blank look in return, he asked, "What's wrong 'Mione?

"It's nothing, Harry. I'm just hungry; I haven't had lunch yet. Want to join me?"

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" he asked skeptically. "You only talk to yourself when you're distressed."

Hermione sighed. "I'll talk about it when we eat, but I'm telling you, it's not a big deal at all."

**---**

**A/N: Hmm, is this chapter too short? I'm not too sure. Sigh I'll write more next time when I don't need to be working on my project. :(**

**Be sure to check out my other story, _A Week of Chaos_, that Taylor and I wrote together.  
**

**OctoberSkies.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything except for the things you don't recognize.

**A/N:** I know I posted this chapter before, but I realized that I made a mistake and changed and added a few things.

**The One Who Baby-sits **

**Chapter 2**

Hermione sighed. "I'll talk about it when we eat, but I'm telling you, it's not a big deal at all."

OOOO

"NOT A BIG DEAL? HOW CAN THIS NOT BE A BIG DEAL" Harry shouted after Hermione told him about her little encounter with Draco Malfoy.

"_Harry, _lower your voice. People are starting to stare," Hermione hissed.

"SORRY. I mean, sorry. But Hermione, how could you even accept his offer. You're going to be alone in his manor. This might be a plot to capture or hurt you."

"Don't be so ridiculous. I'm sure he's not going to try to kidnap me. Besides, I won't be alone. I'm going to be taking care of his son, Malfoy won't do anything bad with his own child there," She explained.

"You never know, Malfoy's father never seemed hesitant to show horrid things to him."

"This isn't about Lucius. Don't be so unreasonable. I'm sure Malfoy has changed by now; it's been years since the war ended. And don't forget Harry, I'm just baby-sitting his son. He's not even going to be there."

"Have you ever even seen his son, Hermione?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought about her choice of words before answering, "No I haven't, but why would he be at the day care center or in muggle London anyway? You know how he doesn't like muggles."

Harry sighed. "That's exactly my point Hermione. No offense, but you're a muggleborn and he's hated you since our first year at Hogwarts. Don't you find it weird that he is asking you to baby-sit for his son, without even thinking that you might have turned out to be some kind of crazy murderer?"

"That's crazy talk. Why would I be a murderer?"

"I was just asking hypothetically."

"Well then, hypothetically, he wouldn't have thought I am a crazy murderer because I am the smartest witch of my age, for merlin's sake! What would possess me to become some killer?" And for the sake of her best friend, she added, "I'll tell you what happens after I get home tomorrow okay? And if I feel that he is trying to kill me then I'll just quit. I don't think he'll try anything on the first day anyway."

Hermione knew that Harry was just trying to protect her, but she was twenty-five now. She doesn't need Harry and Ron to look after her all the time. You would think that by now, they would think that she could handle her own business without messing up.

OOOOOO

Back at Hermione's flat, Hermione began to rethink the whole baby-sitting ordeal. Was it really a good idea? We are talking about _the _Draco Malfoy. To calm her nerves down, she decided to take a nice bubble bath with her new bath soap.

Hermione stripped her clothes and got into the nice warm water with the aroma of roses around. Once relaxed, she started thinking about her conversation with Harry. _'What if he was right? What if this is a scheme to capture and torture me? I barely know anything about him anymore. I mean, didn't even know he had a son for crying out loud. Can I really trust him? Oh, why was I so stupid as to accept this job so quickly? Oh yeah… 'Cause the money.'_ Hermione let out a sigh, _'I'm too paranoid. I already said that I would go tomorrow. I can't just back out now. He might curse me to death with that temper of his. Maybe I should talk to Ginny about this. She'll know what to do. Yeah, she will.'_ And with that, Hermione drifted off into a serene sleep about rose gardens.

Some time later, Hermione woke up and found that all the bubbles were gone and the water she was lying in turned cold. She got up and wrapped a towel over herself and went over to her mirror. She stared at her reflection, and with the baby-sitting problem still in her mind, she asked, "Should I really do this? Or should I just tell Malfoy that I can't make it tomorrow?"

Her reflection looked pensive before replying, "Honey, I think you should go for it. Take a chance."

OOOOOO

Later that evening, Hermione flooed over to Ginny's flat to talk about her situation. Ginny listened intently to her garrulous friend ramble on for thirty minutes until Ginny decided to stop her from going any further.

"Hermione! You need to take a chill pill."

"What? Why are you talking like that, Ginny?" Hermione replied, bewildered by her redheaded friend's language.

"Sorry, I just heard some kid say it this afternoon," Ginny said apologetically. "But honestly, for lack of better words, you do need to take a chill pill. You're blowing this all over proportion. It's just a job baby-sitting a little kid. You've babysat your niece before haven't you? This should be a piece of cake considering how Emma is like a firecracker waiting to explode. And I'm sure Draco isn't going to harm you. Like you said before, his babysitter quit on him during his busiest time of the year and he just needs a replacement."

"You're right, Ginny. I got worked up over nothing. Thanks for calming me down."

"It's what I'm here for, babe." Ginny smiled. "Besides, I passed Draco in Diagon Alley a few days ago, and boy has he grown up into a fine man. A man I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of." She grinned suggestively. "Too bad he's married, huh?"

"Ginny," Hermione said incredulously, "How can you talk about someone like they are a piece of meat? And _you're_ married also. Don't tell me you want to cheat on Harry," She joked.

Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend's poor attempt to lighten up the mood. "I wasn't talking about me. I meant for you, dummy."

"For me? Why would I want to date him? He's Draco Malfoy, the flying ferret, for crying out loud. He's teased me all my years of Hogwarts."

"Put the past in the past, Hermione. Apparently_ he_ has. Why else would he trust you with his only son?"

Hermione sighed exasperatedly, "He's already married, remember? So it's not like I could have dated him even if I _wanted _to. I shudder to think of the day the ferret and I go out."

"Well, we aren't exactly sure if he's married. You said he didn't mention his wife, and if he had a wife, why can't she take her of Damian? So hope is still out there Hermione. They always say there is a thin line between love and hate," Ginny said with a wink.

Hermione, sensing that Ginny is getting way to out of line, said, "Okay now. Can we stop talking like I actually want to date that prat? It's never going to happen, Ginny Weasley, so you can stop having thoughts of little Dracos and Hermiones running around."

"But they are just adorable little things!"

Hermione looked at the time and found it to be already 11:30. "Wow, it's getting late, I think I should go soon. Why isn't Harry home yet?"

"He has quidditch practice tonight, but he should be coming back soon."

As if on cue, Harry apparated into his flat covered in mud and sweat. "Hey Gin." Harry leaned over to hug his wife, but ended up enveloping air.

"Sorry Harry, but you really smell."

Insulted, Harry replied, "Fine, I'll just hug my best friend then."

Upon hearing this, Hermione started walking towards the fireplace. "Uhh, sorry guys, but I've got to go now. I'll talk to you two tomorrow, bye!"

She grabbed some floo powder on the way into the fireplace and shouted, "My flat!"

With the same tugging feeling she always gets with floo, Hermione ended up in her own flat not many seconds later.

Tired, she got ready for bed and fell into the most peaceful sleep she has had for a while.

OOOOOO

Hermione rolled onto her side, getting into a more comfortable position before she idly opened her eyes. _'Time to get up, I don't want to be late for work.'_

She looked at her clock and –

"EIGHT FORTY FIVE? How could I have overslept? I usually never oversleep! Why didn't my alarm clock even go off? Oh, Malfoy is going to arse," She said frantically, while running around her room to get ready.

She ran to the bathroom to do her morning routine, and came out within seven minutes.

"8:53. Okay, still have eight minutes left."

Hermione ran out of her room and into the kitchen to pour herself some orange juice. She gulped it down right away and apparated in front of the Malfoy manor.

Hermione sighedand rang the doorbell. _'9:01. Good, I made it on time.'_

The door opened almost immediately, revealing a peeved looking Draco Malfoy." You're late, Granger. I told you to be on time," He said with his familiar drawl.

"I'm just one minute late, Malfoy. Did you expect me to come at exactly nine?" She said crossly.

"If you're early, it means you're on time. If you're on time, it means you're late. But in your case… Nevermind. I can't be expected to wait all day for you, Granger."

"Is that your way of treating someone who is going to be taking care of your son?"

"Is that your way of speaking to someone who is paying you 100 galleons an hour? (A/N: I know I said pounds in my first chapter, but just go with galleons)

"Is that your way of threatening someone who can quit whenever she pleases?"

Draco was going to reply back, but was stumped on her last comeback. _'Damn, I can't let her have the last word.'_ He thought as he saw Hermione looking triumphant.

"Fine Granger, I'll be the bigger person here and put an end to this petty nonsense. You're here to watch over Damian, not to annoy me."

Just then, Damian trotted down the stairs to meet his new babysitter. He was the splitting image of his father when he was young; you couldn't even see any trace of his mother. It was like Draco gave birth to Damian himself. He had the same piercing gray eyes that had a tint of blue, pale white skin that only they could pull off, and silver blond hair that hung loosely around their eyes. Even Hermione had to admit, but Damian Malfoy was the most adorable five-year-old she had ever seen.

**---**

**A/N: I don't really think this chapter was really interesting, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

**Kathy.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything. Originally, this was going to be a short one-shot based on an episode of Friends that I saw recently. So if you recognize some parts of my story, that's probably why.

**A/N**: Sorry for taking so long guys. I had a lot of work to do, but I decided that I needed to get a chapter up. It's been so long though I totally forgot where I was getting at. I don't even remember who the mom was… Sigh Not good, right? Well then, I'm sure I'll think of something. Or just keep the mom a mystery till eternity. Just kidding.

**The One Who Baby-sits **

**Chapter 3**

Just then, Damian trotted down the stairs to meet his new babysitter. He was the splitting image of his father when he was young; you couldn't even see any trace of his mother. It was like Draco gave birth to Damian himself. He had the same piercing gray eyes that had a tint of blue, pale white skin that only they could pull off, and silver blond hair that hung loosely around their eyes. Even Hermione had to admit, but Damian Malfoy was the most adorable five-year-old she had ever seen.

OOOOOO

"Damian, come here. I want you to meet your new baby-sitter," Draco said to his son sweetly.

"Hi Damian, I'm Hermione Granger, but you can call me 'Mione if you want," Hermione said to Damian with a cheery face.

In return, Damian just stared impassively back at Hermione, holding on to his dad's leg.

"Damian, say hi to Hermione."

"Hi Hermione," He said cheerfully all of a sudden.

'_Damian seems like a nice kid. And he's so cute too! I just hope he's not one of those kids who turn into the 'Black Man' when alone._

Draco cleared his throat to get Hermione's attention and said, "Sorry to make this an inconvenience, _Hermione_, but do you think you could look after Damian at your flat? Mine is going to be under some remodeling soon and I think it would be nice for Damian to know more of the lifestyle of his babysitter."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, sure, why not?" She replied hesitantly, wondering if it would be a good idea bringing the son of Draco Malfoy to her place.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Oh… Er, no. None at all," Hermione said with a smile.

"Daddy, may I go to the potty, please?" Damian interrupted.

"Yes, Damian, you may," His dad responded kindly. This impressed Hermione. He seems like a pretty good father, despite his cold outward appearance he shows to everyone.

"Wow Malfoy, or shall I say, _Draco_, I've got to say I'm rather impressed with your son's politeness. I see you've brought him up pretty well."

"A Malfoy does need to have eloquence," Draco responded in a snooty, yet lighthearted demeanor.

"Well, Damian sure does have that. I'm sure the members of the Elite Club for the Well-Mannered Youth would be quite awed by Damian's vocabulary of 'potty'"

"I'll have you know, Damian has a wide range of vocabulary. He's just a modest child that doesn't like to show off."

"Just like his father, right?" Hermione countered him with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Draco glared at Hermione, but his features soon softened.

"I'm going to pick him up at about 2:00, alright?"

"Sure, of course… What do you want me to do with him?"

"Talk to him, entertain him, keep him alive…"

Just as Hermione was going to retort, Damian came back and was running towards them.

"Did you wash your hands, Damian?" Draco asked.

His question stopped the little blond boy in his tracks before answering, "Yes, I did!"

Draco turned to his son and squatted to his level. "Okay Damian, I'm going to leave you with Aunt Hermione today and I'll pick you up in a few hours. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," Hermione answered, but only to be stared oddly at by two blond heads. After coming to a realization, "Oh! Right. Sorry. My mistake. Keep going." She turned around as she could feel the redness coming onto her face.

"I'll be fine, daddy. Bye!" Damian said as he hugged his dad goodbye.

OOOOOO

At Hermione's apartment, Hermione and Damian were sitting in the kitchen in an uncomfortable silence. Wanting to end the awkward moment, she asked, "So this is fun, huh?"

"Not really…" Damian replied.

'_Well, this is awkward.'_ She thought as she cleared her throat. "Errr… Okay. Do you want something to drink?" She asked while walking to the refrigerator.

"Okay."

After opening her fridge door, Hermione found almost nothing, seeing as how Ron and Harry were here the other day. "Do you want some diet cola?"

"I'm not allowed to drink soda. Daddy says it's bad for me, and it will make me fat."

'_Figures Malfoy would want his kid to be in perfect shape at the age of 5'_

"Okay, well, that's pretty much all I have. Oh! Have you ever had a virgin margarita?" '_It's not like it was alcohol right?'_

Never had one before, Damian asked, "What's a virgin?"

"Err, so water it is!" Hermione said as she gave him tap water.

OOOOOO

A few minutes passed, and all the duo has done was migrate to the couch. "You know, me and your daddy use to know each other when we were younger. We went to the same school. Have you ever heard of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?

"Yes. You went there with daddy? Were you two friends?" Damian asked looking as bored as ever. He was barely even sitting on the couch anymore; he might as well be laying on it.

Stunned by the question, Hermione decided to twist her and Draco's relationship a bit. "I guess you could say that your dad and I would converse quite often. We were actually friends for a bit of our 7th year."

"Well you aren't anymore," Damian replied arrogantly. "When's my dad coming back?"

'_Malfoys will never change.' _Hermione thought exasperatedly as she checked the clock on the wall. "Three hours and thirty seven minutes."

After a few minutes of silence passed, Hermione felt like this babysitting ordeal was so much harder than she thought. Sitting in silence with this kids feels like eternity. She decided to just talk to the dang boy even though every time she tried, it seemed as if she would always say something bad. Maybe she should just ask him about his life and find out more information about what Draco has been up to. That can never hurt right?

"So where does your mom work, Damian?" She inquired.

"I don't have a mommy."

'_Oops'_

"Oh… okay," Not wanting to push the matter further, she strayed from the subject of his mom. "So, no brothers or sisters, huh, Damian? That must be nice. You don't have to share and fight for stuff."

"Sharing is good," Damian replied as if he were an angel.

"Oh, so you're one of _those_," Hermione joked. "You know, I never had any siblings either, but I had two cousins that I was very close to and we would always torment each other."

"Really? Like how?" Damian asked as he turned to face her.

"Well," Hermione replied, relieved that he was getting interested, "We would jump out of closets to scare each other, repeat everything the other would say, or switch the sugar and salt so they would put sugar on their eggs or salt in their cereal."

Damian started laughing. "That's a good one."

"You like that one?" Hermione asked happily.

"Yeah, you're funny," He responded, still smiling.

"I'm funny, really?" Happy that he finally liked her, she decided to tell him more pranks. "Well, I have a ton of these. Here's a good one. You take a coin," Hermione said as she took out a galleon, "and you blacken the edges with ink, right? Then you say to a person, 'I bet you cant take this coin and roll it from the top of your forehead to the bottom of your chin without if leaving your face.' Then, when they do it, they're left with a line down the center of their face." She finished off smiling.

Excited, Damian asked enthusiastically, "Can I do it to you?"

"I'm funny, Damian, not stupid," She replied with a warning look on her face.

---

**A/N: Hallelujah I'm done with this chapter. Sorry for the wait and I hope you guys didn't think I quit writing this story. And you guys better like it cause I'm putting off a lot of homework! Haha, I'm just kidding... or not.**

**A/N2: By the way, the "Black Man" from the beginning of my chapter means "The Devil" if you didn't' know. ANDDDDD one more thing (I know you guys don't want to read some long and boring a/n). If yous got any ideas for this story or any other story of mine, you can PM me or tell me in a review. Thanks.**

**Kathy**

**Reviews would be nice. Please and thank you. :)**


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